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Srinagar IAF squadron gets ‘Falcon Slayers’ shoulder patch to mark Abhinandan’s F-16 kill

The ‘Flacon Slayer’ patch also depicts an F-16 under crosshairs in the background.

Srinagar IAF squadron gets ‘Falcon Slayers’ shoulder patch to mark Abhinandan’s F-16 kill

(Photo: Twitter/@anshumig)

The heroism of Indian Air Force (IAF) Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman in downing a Pakistani Air Force (PAF) F-16 during the aerial engagement on 27 February will now be remembered in a shoulder patch of the IAF’s Srinagar-based No. 51 Squadron.

The patch, which features a motif of a MiG 21 Bison fighter aircraft – the one that Wg Cdr Abhinandan flew on that day, bears the words ‘Falcon Slayers’. Fighting Falcon is the name by which the American-made F-16 fighter jets are also known.

Wg Cdr Varthaman belongs to the No. 51 Squadron, also called Sword Arms. The squadron has a fleet of MiG-21s.

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The ‘Flacon Slayer’ patch also depicts an F-16 under crosshairs in the background.

Besides the MiG-21 Bison squadron, a squadron of Sukhoi-30 MKIs also got a new patch with the name ‘AMRAAM Dogers’, hailing the feat of dodging the air-to-air BVR missiles fired by the F-16s during the engagement.

On 27 February, a day after the Balakot airstrike, PAF fighter jets violated Indian airspace over Jammu-Kashmir to target Indian military installations.

The PAF fighter fleet had F-16s among them. IAF fighter jets intercepted the PAF jets, resulting in an aerial engagement that led to the downing of an F-16 by Wg Cdr Varthaman. In the process, Wg Cdr Varthaman’s MiG 21 Bison was shot down and he was taken captive by Pak Army.

Wg Cdr Varthaman was released on 1 March after India successfully mounted global diplomatic pressure on Pakistan.

Patches are worn on the flying overalls. They depict a major achievement of the squadron and instil a sense of pride in all the pilots of the squadron.

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